2020 NASCAR Gander RV
enters the 2020 season as the defending series champion.]] The 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series is the upcoming 26th season of the third highest stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in North America. The season will begin at Daytona International Speedway with the NextEra Energy 250 on February 14. The regular season will end with the Corrigan Oil 200 at Michigan International Speedway on August 8. The NASCAR playoffs will end with the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway on November 6. 2020 marks the twelfth season for Camping World Holdings as the series' sponsor, with it being the second season under the Gander RV & Outdoors brand. In September 2019, Camping World announced a rebranding of Gander Outdoors stores as part of a shift in strategy, resulting in the stores also carrying recreational vehicle sales and service, henceforth the slight name change to reflect corporate changes. Teams and drivers Complete schedule Limited schedule Changes Teams * On October 31, 2019, Kyle Busch confirmed on NASCAR America that Kyle Busch Motorsports will run two trucks full time for the championship, as well as another truck for a rotating cast of drivers, including himself and Chandler Smith. Motorsports on NBC|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCg4GCu8rgE|language=en|access-date=2019-11-05}} On November 14, Canadian Raphaël Lessard, and 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion Christian Eckes were announced for both full time entries, with both also competing for Rookie of the Year. * After running two trucks full time in 2019, GMS Racing will expand to four full time trucks in 2020 with the addition of Tyler Ankrum from DGR-Crosley and Zane Smith from JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series . They will also run a fifth truck part-time for Sam Mayer as well as World of Outlaws driver David Gravel. The truck number for the fifth truck was confirmed to be the No. 24 on January 10, 2020. * On December 20, 2019, Diversified Motorsports Enterprises completed its purchase of JJL Motorsports. * On January 13, 2020, Front Row Motorsports announced their expansion into the Truck Series through an alliance with DGR-Crosley. * On January 13, 2020, Bill McAnally Racing announced a partneship with Bill Hilgemann to form McAnally-Hilgemann Racing for the Truck Series. In addition, the team has formed a technical alliance with Hattori Racing Enterprises. * On January 21, 2020, Win-Tron Racing announced their return to the Truck Series, with them fielding the No. 32 Chevrolet part-time for Howie DiSavino III (one of their ARCA drivers). Excluding a partnership with AM Racing in 2016 and 2017, this will be Win-Tron's first time in the series since 2015, when they ran the No. 35 Toyota. * On February 3, 2020, Bob Pockrass reported the owner points of the DGR-Crosley No. 17 will be transferred to the No. 15 in 2020. * On February 5, 2020, Jordan Anderson Racing and AM Racing announced the opening of their joint race shop in Statesville, North Carolina. Drivers * On July 1, 2019, Toyota Racing executive Jack Irving Jr. stated that Hailie Deegan could run some Truck Series races in 2020. Deegan's name was in the mix to be joining DGR-Crosley, whom she had run one East Series race for in 2019. On December 17, Ford Performance announced the addition of Deegan to its driver development program. Deegan's father Brian stated that she will focus on the ARCA Menards Series in 2020 before tentatively moving to the Truck Series in 2021 and the Xfinity Series in 2023. * On November 14, 2019, it was announced that 2019 Rookie of the Year Tyler Ankrum would join GMS Racing from DGR-Crosley and would drive a third full time truck for them, which was later decided to be the No. 26. * On November 19, 2019, it was announced that GMS Racing would also add a fourth full time truck in 2020 with Zane Smith driving, who last year ran a part time schedule in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports, which is aligned with GMS as part of the Drivers Edge Development program. * On November 21, 2019, it was announced that Myatt Snider, who drove for ThorSport Racing for two years (full time in 2018 in the No. 13 and part time in 2019 in the No. 27), would be moving up to the Xfinity Series in 2020, running a part time schedule for Richard Childress Racing. It was also confirmed on December 3, 2019 that Anthony Alfredo, who drove part-time for DGR-Crosley in 2019 (mostly in the No. 15 truck), would join Snider at RCR in the Xfinity Series for a part-time schedule as well. * On November 24, 2019, it was announced that Tim Viens rented out a ride with Mike Affarano Motorsports to drive their No. 03 for the NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway. On January 15, 2020, it was announced that Viens would attempt the whole season with Affarano, though the odds of them showing up to more than two races or so are minimal. * On December 10, 2019, it was announced that Ty Majeski would join Niece Motorsports full-time in 2020, replacing Ross Chastain. Majeski drove for the team earlier, piloting the organization’s No. 44 entry at Phoenix Raceway in November 2019. * On December 11, 2019, it was announced that Brennan Poole, who drove most of the Truck Series schedule for On Point Motorsports in 2019, would be running full-time in the Cup Series driving the No. 15 for Premium Motorsports in 2020. * On December 16, 2019, DGR-Crosley announced that Tanner Gray will drive the No. 15 Ford full-time in 2020. * On December 18, 2019, Ross Chastain announced on a video that he would be back to run some races with Niece Motorsports again in 2020, likely in the No. 44 and sharing that truck with multiple drivers. * On December 18, 2019, Henderson Motorsports announced that they planned to enter some races with other drivers in addition to Parker Kligerman in 2020. * On December 20, 2019, Niece Motorsports announced that Carson Hocevar would drive for them in nine races in 2020, which likely means he'll split the No. 44 with Chastain and other drivers. Hocevar ran two Truck races last year for Jordan Anderson Racing as well as part time in ARCA for the last two years with KBR Development. * On January 2, 2020, Bobby Gerhart announced that he has decided to not drive this season after suffering a heart attack on Christmas. However, he did say that he would still like to field his team at Daytona with another driver in his Truck and ARCA rides. * On January 10, 2020, GMS Racing announced that World of Outlaws driver David Gravel would drive six races in the No. 24 Chevrolet, with Eldora being the only one of which is confirmed at this time. * On January 13, 2020, it was announced that Todd Gilliland will drive the Front Row Motorsports No. 38 truck in 2020. * On January 13, 2020, defending West Series champion Derek Kraus was announced as the driver for the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Toyota in 2020. He drove that truck part-time in 2019 as well as running full-time for McAnally in what is now the ARCA Menards Series West. * On January 16, 2020, Niece Motorsports announced that Natalie Decker would be driving their No. 44 truck in eight races. In 2019, she drove all but four races of the season in the DGR-Crosley No. 54, and it is unknown who will replace her in that truck in 2020. * On January 21, 2020, it was announced that Howie DiSavino III, who drove for Win-Tron Racing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series in 2019, would do the same in 2020 but also run some truck races for the team, making their return to the series for the first time since 2015. He'll drive a No. 32 truck with his debut coming at the new Richmond race. * On January 24, 2020, CMI Motorsports announced that Ray Ciccarelli will drive the No. 49 Chevrolet at Daytona. On January 30, CMI announced that Bayley Currey will drive the No. 49 at Las Vegas. * On January 27, 2020, Young's Motorsports announced that Tate Fogleman will drive the team's flagship truck, the No. 02, full time. He drove part time for the team in 2018, but did not run any races for them or with any other team in the series in 2019. * On January 28, 2020, Clay Greenfield Motorsports announced that team owner/driver Clay Greenfield will attempt eight races in the No. 68 Toyota this season. * On January 29, 2020, Angela Ruch announced she will run the full schedule in the No. 00 Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet. * On February 6, 2020, Niece Motorsports announced that Super Late Models driver Jett Noland will drive the No. 44 Chevrolet in six races. Crew chiefs * On November 20, 2019, it was confirmed that Jerry Baxter, the crew chief of the No. 24 truck, had left GMS Racing after the 2019 season. He will be working for Richard Petty Motorsports as the crew chief for Bubba Wallace and the No. 43 team in the Cup Series in 2020. * On December 11, 2019, Kyle Busch Motorsports announced their 2020 crew chief lineup. Rudy Fugle will be in charge of the No. 18 Toyota of Christian Eckes, Mike Hillman Jr. will handle the No. 4 truck of Raphaël Lessard, and former Richard Childress Racing crew chief Danny Stockman Jr. will lead the No. 51 team driven by Kyle Busch, Chandler Smith, and other drivers to be announced at a later date. * On December 13, 2019, GMS Racing announced their crew chief lineup for the 2020 season. Chad Norris has been named crew chief for Brett Moffitt and the No. 23 Chevrolet team, Chad Walter will lead Tyler Ankrum and the No. 26 team, Kevin Manion will call the shots for Zane Smith who will drive the No. 21 entry, and Jeff Stankiewicz will remain as the crew chief for the No. 2 team piloted by Sheldon Creed. * On January 13, 2020, Jon Leonard was named the crew chief for Front Row Motorsports' new truck team with Todd Gilliland. Last year, he worked as an engineer for Richard Childress Racing. Prior to that, he was at Leavine Family Racing, where he was also the interim crew chief for their No. 95 car for over half of the 2018 Cup Series season with drivers Kasey Kahne and Regan Smith. * On January 15, 2020, it was announced that Shane Wilson would be the crew chief for the No. 15 team of DGR-Crosley and rookie Tanner Gray. Wilson crew chiefed Ryan Sieg and his No. 39 Xfinity Series team in 2019, leading him to having many good runs and a playoff spot. * On January 28, 2020, Clay Greenfield Motorsports announced that Fox NASCAR commentator Jeff Hammond will be the crew chief of the No. 68 Toyota. Hammond's career as a crew chief dates back to 1982, when he helped Darrell Waltrip win his second Winston Cup Series Championship. Manufacturers * On December 3, 2019, it was announced that the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing team would switch from Chevrolet and an alliance with GMS Racing to Toyota and an alliance with Kyle Busch Motorsports starting in 2020. * On December 11, 2019, DGR-Crosley announced that they would be switching from Toyota to Ford beginning in 2020. * On January 24, 2020, it was revealed through a paint scheme of one of the team's trucks for this season that Diversified Motorsports Enterprises (formerly JJL Motorsports) would be switching from Ford to Chevrolet this season, likely because driver Jesse Little is driving full-time for JD Motorsports, a Chevrolet team, in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Sponsorship * On December 2, 2019, NASCAR announced that the organization will not allow CBD sponsorships partly due to restrictions from its media rights partners and also because of FIA regulations (cannabinoids, which CBD is part, is a Prohibited Substance in the WADA Code that is used by the FIA; NASCAR is a member of the ASN of the FIA in the United States, the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States). * On January 10, 2020, Axalta was announced as David Gravel's sponsor on the No. 24 truck for GMS Racing for the race at Eldora. It is the company's first time sponsoring a truck series team in many years. Notably, they (when they were known as DuPont) were the sponsor for Scott Lagasse in 1995, the very first year of the series. * On January 14, 2020, it was reported that NASCAR was in advanced discussions with Verizon Communications on a new partnership, which includes upgrading the tracks with 5G technology. * On January 24, 2020, Diversified Motorsports Enterprises announced that Teletrac Navman would be the sponsor of their No. 97 truck and driver Jesse Little in six races this season. Rule changes * Similar to 2019, NASCAR Cup Series drivers will only be allowed to compete in five races. Cup drivers also are not allowed to compete in the Triple Truck Challenge as well as the final eight races of the season (the final race before the playoffs and the NASCAR playoffs). Unlike 2019, the rule now applies to drivers declaring for Cup Series points with three or more years of Cup Series experience, down from five years of experience in 2019. Another change from 2019 is that the entry deadline requirement for the Triple Truck Challenge eligibility has been removed, which prevented Greg Biffle from being eligible for the bonus money from the other two Triple Truck Challenge races after winning the first leg in Texas last year. So starting in 2020, the entire field will be vying for the bonus each week. *NASCAR also decided to expand the Truck Series playoff to 10 drivers instead of 8 that were in the years before. Now the structure will be: 3 races in the Round of 10 after which two drivers will be eliminated. 3 races in the Round of 8 with four drivers being eliminated and four drivers will compete for the championship in the season finale. * Controlled cautions will be used at Iowa Speedway, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. This procedure includes restrictions on tire changes and refueling to prevent teams from hiring specialized pit crews. The controlled caution procedure will not be in effect for weekends where either series is with the Cup Series. The rules are as follows: :*Each team will consist of eight pit crew members. This includes four to service the car, one fueler, and one driver assistant. :*On oval tracks, teams may add fuel and change two tires per pit stop. :*On road courses, teams may add fuel or change four tires per pit stop. :*Restarts under caution will be in the following order: ::# Cars that did not pit. ::# Cars that pitted one time, followed by two times. ::# Free Pass, Wave Around vehicles, Penalty vehicles. :* Teams involved in incidents are allowed to change four tires at once to avoid damaging the vehicle. :*Penalties are as follows: ::* A team must restart on the tail end of the lead lap if they exceed the time limit on pit road or they pit other than the designated lap. ::* A team must serve a two-lap penalty if they change all four tires and add fuel on any pit stop, change tires under green (unless approved by NASCAR for damage caused by an incident), or perform a four-tire change on any pit stop (Iowa and Gateway only). Schedule The schedule for the 2020 season was released on April 3, 2019. All start times listed as Eastern Time. * Triple Truck Challenge races in bold. Schedule changes :Further information: History of NASCAR schedule realignments As with the Cup and Xfinity Series, NASCAR made numerous changes to the Truck Series schedule for the 2020 season. Of note is the return of the series to Richmond Raceway after a 14 year hiatus, which comes at the expense of the spring Martinsville date. Martinsville in exchange was given an Xfinity Series race for the first time after a hiatus for 24 of the last 25 years (the exception being a single event in 2006), which will be run in the fall on the same weekend as the Cup and Truck Series races there. Also, this will be the first season that the season finale will be at Phoenix Raceway while Homestead–Miami Speedway moves to March to become the fourth race of the season. Bristol is now the elimination race for the Round of 10 while the second Las Vegas race is the opener for the Round of 8 and Martinsville, now with only one date on the schedule, will end the Round of 8. See also * 2020 NASCAR Cup Series * 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series * 2020 ARCA Menards Series * 2020 ARCA Menards Series East * 2020 ARCA Menards Series West * 2020 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series References Category:NASCAR Truck Series Category:NASCAR Truck Series seasons NASCAR Gander Outdoor Series NASCAR Gander Outdoor Series